Politics
Virginia Governor’s Marijuana Veto Is Very Unpopular With Voters, New Poll Shows
The decision by Virginia’s governor to veto legislation to legalize recreational marijuana sales is overwhelmingly unpopular with voters, according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted earlier this month days ahead of Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s (D) move to kill the cannabis regulation bill, found that 70 percent of voters either strongly (53 percent) or somewhat (17 percent) agreed that she should allow the legislation to become law. Just 13 percent strongly disagreed and 7 percent somewhat disagreed, while 11 percent were undecided.
Support for legalization was substantial across party lines, with a total of 70 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of Republicans and 74 percent of independents agreeing that the governor should not stand in the way of the marijuana bill taking effect.
A separate question asked specifically whether Spanberger should sign or veto the cannabis reform, with 65 percent of voters saying she should sign it into law and just 16 percent hoping she would end up vetoing it. An additional 19 percent were undecided. Again, there was majority support from each partisan group of voters.
“This just makes it all the more clear that legal retail cannabis isn’t a fringe issue anymore,” Del. Paul Krizek (D), who sponsored the House version of the now-vetoed cannabis legislation. “It’s mainstream public policy backed by overwhelming public support.”
Lawmakers passed the cannabis sales bills in March, but the governor then suggested changes to the legalization proposal—including delaying the start date for sales by six months, increasing taxes and instituting new criminal penalties for cannabis consumers. The legislature last month declined to take up the amendments during a one-day reconvened session, however, effectively rejecting them. Spanberger then issued a veto on Tuesday.
The new survey, which was conducted by Public Policy Polling and obtained by Marijuana Moment, also suggested that Spanberger could have picked up greater support from voters by signing the bill. A total of 38 percent said they would view her either much more or somewhat more favorably had she done so. Only a combined 11 percent would have viewed her less favorably for signing legal cannabis sales into law. Forty-two percent said the governor’s decision on the marijuana legislation wouldn’t make a difference in their view of her, however.
When prompted with the fact that cannabis possession is already legal in Virginia but adults currently have no place to legally buy it, a total of 78 percent of respondents said they either strongly or somewhat agree that “adults over 21 should have places to purchase cannabis that are legal and strictly regulated.”
JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, told Marijuana Moment that “broad bipartisan support for a regulated retail cannabis market has been remarkably consistent for years, and her vetoes place Governor Spanberger firmly on the wrong side of both public opinion and public safety.”
“Virginians can already see the consequences of the failed approach embraced by Republican former Governor Glenn Youngkin, who also vetoed regulated sales in favor of allowing an unregulated THC market to explode across the Commonwealth,” Pedini said. “Voters understand that preserving this unregulated market is not a serious public safety strategy.”
A total of 75 percent of voters agreed in the poll that the state “should not delay in implementing a program to strictly regulate” cannabis products.
Asked specifically when the legal cannabis market should launch, 54 percent said it should happen as soon as possible, 9 percent opted for sometime this call and 7 percent chose sometime in 2027. Another 15 percent said they never want regulated marijuana sales in the state.
The answers to the questions on timing are significant, given the governor’s move to delay the launch of legal marijuana sales in the amendments she proposed to the legislation.
In an interview earlier this week, Spanberger explained her veto of the cannabis bill—saying she supports the overall reform but took issue with some of the details in the proposal that lawmakers sent her, including what she called a “rushed timeline” to launch the legal cannabis market and “far more stores across Virginia” than she thinks are appropriate.
Jason Blanchette, president of the Virginia Cannabis Association, said in response to the poll results that it’s “time to get this legislation across the finish line.”
“For over five years, stakeholders and legislators alike have been working tirelessly to an end goal of a best practice, age-gated and safe regulated adult-use cannabis market,” he told Marijuana Moment. “Kicking this legislative can further down the road only emboldens illegal cartels, vape shops and gas stations to double down on diminishing Virginia’s citizens health and public safety.”
A separate question in the poll found that when given a choice, 70 percent of respondents “would rather have a regulated cannabis market in my community” and 11 percent “would rather have the current unregulated status quo.”
The survey also showed broad concern about the availability of unregulated cannabis in Virginia, including through smoke and vape shops that sell hemp-derived cannabinoid products
Sixty-seven percent of voters said that have seen an increase in such retail outlets in their areas over the last few years, and a total of 87 percent either strongly or somewhat agreeing that “products with intoxicants such as THC should only be sold at strictly regulated, age-restricted storefronts.”
Asked whether current “aggressive enforcement efforts to prevent the sale of cannabis and cannabis-like products by retailers across the state” have been effective, 44 percent said they were either somewhat or very effective, while only 28 percent said they were somewhat or very effective. Another 30 percent weren’t sure.
In response to a separate question about whether it is “important to protect kids from being able to purchase cannabis and similar intoxicating products,” 88 percent strongly agreed and another 8 percent somewhat agreed.
Trent Woloveck, chief strategy officer with the cannabis company Jushi, said Spanberger’s veto “preserves the unregulated cannabis marketplace that Virginia voters overwhelmingly want replaced with a safe, regulated system.”
“Virginians want regulation, consumer protections and enforcement, not billions of dollars in unregulated intoxicating products continuing to be sold through smoke and vape shops in their neighborhoods across the Commonwealth,” he told Marijuana Moment.
The poll involved interviews with 594 Virginia voters on May 5 and 6.
Spanberger has repeatedly responded to criticism of her cannabis amendments from the bill sponsors and advocates by saying the suggested changes came after she spoke to the leaders of other states that have already implemented adult-use marijuana markets.
Prior to vetoing the cannabis commerce bill, the governor did sign separate legislation to provide resentencing relief for people with past cannabis convictions.
Personal marijuana possession and home cultivation of marijuana has been legal in Virginia since 2021, but then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) twice vetoed bills to provide consumers with a way to legally purchase regulated adult-use cannabis.
Krizek and Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D), the sponsors of the legalization bills, had urged colleagues to vote against the governor’s amendments last month—even if that meant risking a veto from Spanberger when the legislation returned to her desk, which has now occurred.
Lawmakers will now have to start the push for reform over again with new bills in the 2027 session.
Here are the other key details of the cannabis bills—SB 542 and HB 642—as approved by lawmakers and with the governor’s suggested amendments:
- Lawmakers voted to allow adults to be able to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a single transaction, or up to an equivalent amount of other cannabis products as determined by regulators. That would represent an increase from the limit in current law of 1 ounce. The governor, however, wanted the amount increased to only 2 ounces.
- Under the legislature’s plan, legal sales could begin on January 1, 2027, but the governor proposed to push that back to July 1, 2027.
- Lawmakers voted to impose an excise tax of 6 percent on cannabis sales as well as a 5.3 percent retail sales and use tax, while allowing municipalities to set an additional local tax of up to 3.5 percent. The governor’s plan was largely the same, though it would have increased the excise tax to 8 percent starting on July 1, 2029.
- Under the legislation as approved by lawmakers, revenue would have been distributed to the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund (30 percent), early childhood education (40 percent), the Department of Behavioral & Developmental Health Services (25 percent) and public health initiatives (5 percent). The governor, however, wanted to put all revenue into the general fund while earmarking it “for purposes such as early childhood education, behavioral health, public health awareness, prevention, treatment, and recovery services, workforce development, reentry, indigent criminal defense, and targeted reinvestment in historically disadvantaged communities.”
- The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would have overseen licensing and regulation of the new industry, and would have also taken on oversight of hemp, which is currently under the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
- Local governments could not have opted out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area.
- Delivery services would have been allowed.
- Serving sizes would have been capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package.
- The governor proposed to make public marijuana use a class 4 criminal misdemeanor instead of civil violation punishable by a $25 fine as under current law. She also wanted to make possessing cannabis by people under the age of 21 a class 1 misdemeanor, punishable with a mandatory minimum fine of $500 or 50 hours of community service, as well as the suspension of drivers licenses for at least six months. Illegally selling or distributing 50 pounds or more of marijuana would have been a class 2 felony punishable by life in prison.
- The governor sought to eliminate support for the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund.
- Existing medical cannabis operators could have entered the adult-use market if they pay a licensing conversion fee that was set at $10 million.
- Cannabis businesses would have had to establish labor peace agreements with workers.
- As passed by lawmakers, the bill would have directed a legislative commission to study adding on-site consumption licenses and microbusiness cannabis event permits that would allow licensees to conduct sales at venues like farmers markets or pop-up locations, but the governor proposed to remove that language.
A coalition of cannabis reform organizations sent the governor a letter this month urging her not to veto the sales legalization legislation even though her amendments were rejected.
“Together, these bills address the real issues surrounding cannabis in the Commonwealth today: an already-existing, unregulated marijuana market operating openly across the state while consumers, communities, and law enforcement are left without the protections of a legal framework,” the groups wrote.
“Let’s be clear: these bills do not create a marijuana market in Virginia. That market already exists,” the letter said. “What these bills do is replace today’s predatory and unaccountable illicit operators with a regulated marketplace, enforceable rules, oversight, product safeguards, age verification, and the strict consumer safety standards already in use for Virginia medical cannabis.”
The letter was signed by Virginia NORML, Marijuana Justice, Virginia Cannabis Association, Marijuana Policy Project and other groups.
Separately, a coalition of hemp businesses that joined with a major alcohol retailer in asking Spanberger to veto the marijuana bill before she did so said the move presents an “opportunity” to craft better cannabis policy.
Meanwhile, the governor signed several other reform bills last month—including measures to protect the parental rights of marijuana consumers and allow patients to access medical cannabis in hospitals.
Read the full Virginia marijuana poll below:
